Hotels & Hospitality Industry Consultants: 10

Gary Deel, Ph.D., J.D. has 10 years of experience in executive-level positions in the hospitality industry and 10 years of experience teaching hospitality management and law curriculum for some of the nation's top hotel schools.

Dr. Deel holds both a Ph.D. in Hospitality and a J.D. in Law, so he understands the nuances of expert witness testimony from the perspective of attorney strategy. He has also worked in a variety of different hospitality industry capacities including operations, sales, security and risk management, training and administration, and others. His services are available to help attorneys make the strongest possible arguments for clients in hospitality-related cases. Dr. Deel offers expert witness services nationwide in the areas of:

Hotels Resorts Restaurants Travel and Tourism Meetings and Events

Theme Parks Airlines Cruise Lines Casinos Golf Courses

Recent Cases:

• Suit against Miami beach resort involving catastrophic injury in the ocean and hotel duty to warn about latent hazards known to hotel and not obvious to visitors (plaintiff).
• Suit against Orlando city center convention hotel involving sexual assault of a minor guest by an employee and hotel duty to monitor employee whereabouts and activities (plaintiff).

Food Service & Restaurant Design Consultant. I have been involved in the design of restaurants and commercial kitchens for over 10 years. I have personally designed over 125 restaurants including front of house and back kitchen design, including project management. I have a B.A. in interior design. I have worked on projects throughout the United States and Phillipines, and Honduras.

Over the last 2 years I have owned my own company which has provided complete construction drawings for over 30 restaurants ranging from 1,500 sq. ft. to over 3,000 sq. ft. I have also been retained by architects and business owners to provide coordination drawings for commercial kitchen design for over 35 projects ranging in size from 1,000 sq. ft to 5,000 sq. ft. I have also worked on franchise restaurant projects for McDonalds, Chevy's Mexican Restaurant, Jamba Juice, Tahoe Joe's, Taxi's Hamburgers.

Leonard J. Backer has over 28 years of extensive and successful Furniture Industry experience in all key areas including:

Sourcing Private Label Production Product Development Original Design Marketing Branding Import and Distribution

Vendor Qualification Supplier Relations Contract Negotiations Customer Service Competitive Analysis Sales Agreements Designer Driven Approach

Mr. Backer has executive level perspective in start-up, turnaround and aggressive growth situations with long term industry relations, both domestically and overseas. He specializes in Private Label Manufacturing, Sourcing, and Product Development expertise.

Leonard Backer has provided extensive consulting work on short and long term projects. He has provided consulting work on various topics over the past few years for private equity companies, large branded manufacturers, and independent product designers. Mr. Backer has conducted site visits to 80 overseas and domestic factory operations. Worked closely with independent product designers.

View Leonard Backer's Expert Witness Profile.

Maurice Robinson, ISHC, CRE, ASA, is an expert in the field of hotel and resort consulting. He has been facilitating the development and redevelopment of high-end, full-service hotels and resorts for over 30 years. 

Additionally, Mr. Robinson has been providing litigation support services, strategic advisory services, hotel repositioning, market feasibility studies, and appraising hotels and other hospitality-related real estate. His expertise includes advising clients on development planning, deal structuring and financial issues, dispute resolution, workouts, and expert witness testimony related to hotel and resort development and investment. 

Qualified Expert Witness & Consultant in Hotel and Real Estate Industry Business Issues:

Market, economic & financial feasibility Valuation Owner-operator, borrower-lender, franchisor-franchisee Disputes Management contracts Ground & building leases Partnership & JV agreements Concession contracts Development agreements and loan documents Expert witness testimony Litigation strategy, consultation and support Damage calculations

Lost profits analysis Real estate appraisals Deal structuring & workouts New development Strategic planning Market demand assessment Acquisition due diligence Economic, financial & investment analysis Can estimate damages and appraise property values under multiple scenarios Trained Arbitrator & Mediator

Winner of the Creative Counselor of the Year for appraising the Grand Canyon.

Perry Group International, founded in 1985, provides consulting, interim hotel management and restaurant and hospitality expert services for lodging, food services, resorts, and nightclubs. Their group does work nationally and internationally with new startup, profitable, and under-performing and distressed hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs, retail and mixed-use real estate. The professionals at Perry Group International serve as third-party asset manager, owners representative, and advisor, for investors and owners. They also act as court appointed receivers and interim hospitality managers for lenders, operators, and their legal and real estate professionals. Clients have included Biscuits & Blues, Cantina’s, Chevy’s, Choice Hotels, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inns, Hilton, Holiday Inns, Hooter’s Casino, Hyatt, Marriott, McDonald’s, Microtel Inn & Suites, Outback Restaurants, Radisson, Residence Inns, Signature Resort, Sizzler, Sonic Drive-Ins, Starbucks, Starwood, Sheraton, Togo’s, Wendy’s, and Willie Mays Skybox Lounge among others.

Hospitality Management Consulting:

Interim Hotel Management Temporary General Manager Short Term Corporate Manager

Owners Representative Hotel Asset Manager Project Supervisor

Hotel Restaurant Nightclub Consulting:

Acquisition and Disposition Due Diligence Financial Evaluation and Income Impact Planning, Market Analysis, Feasibility Operations and Internal Review Business Interruption

Pre-opening / Post-opening Technical Support Workouts, Restructuring and Repositioning Court Appointed Receiver Provisional Director Expert Witness

Dennis Gemberling, CHA, CFBE, FMP, FCSI, President and Founder of Perry Group International, has over 35 years of experience in the Hospitality Management industry. His experience includes managing, operating, and consulting on full-service, limited-service, extended-stay, all-suite, condo and timeshare hotels and resorts, casual, fine-dining, and quick-service restaurants, bars and nightclubs, special event facilities, casinos, and mixed-use real estate. Mr. Gemberling has held prior positions for different owners, operators, and chains as Senior Vice President, General Manager, Director of Food & Beverage, and Restaurant Unit Manager. He has been retained for over 400 projects with typical values in the $1 million to $75 million range and revenues in the $1 million to $100 million range both nationally and internationally. View Dennis Gemberling's Expert Witness Profile.

Readiness Systems is the nation’s leading Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Program Compliance consulting practice providing automated external defibrillator (AED) program design, risk management, public policy and advisory services. Readiness Systems serves a variety of public and private clients nationwide, including Microsoft, the Federal Aviation Administration, 24 Hour Fitness, industry partners, and lawyers. 

Organizations with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) must follow industry standards and AED laws. Those that do will be reasonably prepared for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) emergencies (preparation) and perform responsibly when SCA occurs (performance). Organizations with a complete AED program design and supporting written policies will be best protected from liability risks (protection).

Readiness Systems offers a suite of AED program compliance services, tools, and resources to help your organization meet these requirements:

• AED Program Design, Policy Development, and Audit Services. Readiness Systems is the only AED program compliance consultancy offering truly comprehensive AED program creation and policy development services. They will design and document your complete AED program.
• AED Sentinel Remote Monitoring: The first remote AED monitoring system built for every AED program. AED Sentinel uses technology to automatically inspect AEDs so humans don’t have to.
• AED Law Center: The AED Law Center™ is a comprehensive online information resource that helps you learn the AED laws for any state, understand the AED laws in plain English and stay informed about pending AED legislation nationwide.
• AED Compliance Resources: Compliance resources support AED program preparation, performance and protection. Publications include national AED Program Design Guidelines, a special report explaining industry standards, and AED laws.

Richard A. Lazar, President of Readiness Systems, is the nation’s leading Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Program Compliance Expert. For over 25 years, Mr. Lazar has designed and documented AED programs for AED programs nationwide. Earlier in his career, he practiced emergency medical services law, designed emergency medical services (EMS) systems, served as an EMS system administrator, and was an emergency medical technician. He also holds a law degree from Lewis & Clark School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs from the University of Oregon. Mr. Lazar develops and publishes national AED Program Design Guidelines that describe industry standards for AED programs and the AED Law Center, the only comprehensive online information resource that helps AED owners learn about the AED laws for every state, understand the AED laws in plain English, and stay informed about pending AED legislation nationwide.

View Richard A. Lazar's Expert Witness Profile.

realEats Consulting began as a resource website (www.realeats.org) for Florida International University, to acclimate students with the “green” supply chain and sustainability concepts. This resource site highlights over 400 “green” vendors offering thousands of “real” products.

realEats Consulting is focused on improving the operational performance of restaurants, hotels, and resorts. They specialize in providing a wide array of services for both corporate and independent operators including:

• Creating Sustainable Food and Beverage Programs
• Creating Sustainable Business Solutions
• Operations Management
• Financial Review
• New or Updated Training

realEats founder, Dr. Joel Feigenheimer, is an industry expert with over 35 years of experience related to the Restaurant and Hospitality field. He has spent a career developing relationships with industry associates around the globe. His “six degrees of separation” include executives with specialties in every area of hospitality. Over his career he has consulted on three continents, excelled in the corporate environment, been a successful entrepreneur, and met thousands of industry leaders. Now, as a full time educator at Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality, he has chosen “the best in the World” to join the realEats consulting team.

View Joel Feigenheimer's Expert Witness Profile.

Howard Cannon, Restaurant, Bar, and Foodservice Industry Author, Speaker, Analyst, Consultant, Expert Witness, Mediator, and CEO has served dozens of the world's largest restaurant brands, and has worked in virtually every type and style of restaurant, bar, and food service industry environment, from convenience food to fine dining, and on behalf of nearly every type, size, and style of company, from Fortune 500 international companies to independent "mom-and-pop" operations. 

Author: Mr. Cannon’s world-famous books can be found in book stores in 76 countries around the globe including Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, Amazon, and many other fine retailers. Mr. Cannon's most famous books, including, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting A Restaurant (1st & 2nd Edition,)", are highly-recognizable and read by tens of thousands of people. 

Restaurant Expert Witness, a division of Restaurant Operations Institute, Inc. - founded in 1987, is one of America's most highly-visible & highly-recognizable restaurant, bar, and foodservice industry consulting, expert witness, and advisory firms - providing restaurant, bar, and foodservice industry analysis, consultation, expertise, opinions, advice, management, mediation, content, and expert witness services to clients of all types and sizes, and in markets across the country and around the globe. View Howard Cannon's Expert Witness Profile

Consulting Services:

• Restaurant Expert Witness Services: litigation support - unbiased opinions, testimony, and reports - for Plaintiffs and Defendants in State and Federal courts. NO CHARGE for domestic travel.
• Restaurant Turnaround & Profit Improvement: for those looking to get better performance out of their restaurant or group of restaurants of any type, style or size anywhere across the country or around the world.
• Restaurant Start-Up: a wide variety of products and services, specializing in projects for high net worth individuals and for restaurants and bars that are well-funded.

Restaurant Seminars:

• How to Start a Restaurant – attended by people from every walk of life that dream of opening and operating a successful restaurant.
• How to Fix a Restaurant – attended by those who are already in the restaurant business in either a chain or an independent with responsibility for one to several dozen locations. These participants are generally looking for higher sales, lower costs, and better profits.

Custom Restaurant Industry Speeches & Seminars: providing unique and memorable speeches and seminars covering a wide variety of restaurant-based subject matter to audiences of all types and sizes in markets across the country and around the world. 

Website:  www.RestaurantExpertWitness.com  

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RestaurantExpertWtns/videos  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RestaurantExpertWitnessServices  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/restaurant-expert-witness/

Preston Rideout is a highly sought-after Nightclub and Bar Consultant. His bar operations services are available to Casino Executives, Resort Operators, Hoteliers, Restauranteurs, Nightclub Management Companies, Bar Owners, Investors, Architects and Attorneys. Mr. Rideout is widely considered hospitality’s leading expert in bar operations. He is the bar expert other consultants call for complex problems needing specialized solutions. 

Background - In 1994, Mr. Rideout started bartending while attending The University of Mississippi. He put himself through college and law school by working at the Gin. Upon graduation, he relocated to Las Vegas to work for Pure Management Group.

While in Vegas, Mr. Rideout opened and operated Coyote Ugly, Tangerine Ultra Lounge, Pure Nightclub, Pussycat Doll Lounge, Audigier Nightclub, LAX Nightclub, Noir Bar, Venus Pool, Eve Nightclub, and Rehab Pool Party. When asked about his time in Las Vegas, he responds by saying, “It was like attending Graduate School for nightlife...I learned more in a decade than most people will learn in a lifetime."

In 2010, Preston launched into consulting by signing Jon Taffer from Bar Rescue as his first client.  In 2017, he published a Bartender Training Manual receiving over 100,000 downloads.

Preston Rideout. His consulting methodology is simple, straight forward, and successful. 

• Operating Experience - Coyote Ugly, Tangerine, Pure Nightclub, Pussycat Doll Lounge, Audigier Nightclub, LAX Nightclub, Noir Bar, EVE Nightclub, Venus Pool, Rehab Pool, Electric Cowboy, Luke's Ice House, Twelve25, Red Rock, and The Gin.
• Casino Experience - Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Luxor Resort and Casino, Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino, Aria Resort and Casino, New York -New York Hotel and Casino, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
• Hotel and Resort Experience - The Alluvian Hotel, The Memphian Hotel, The Collegiate Hotel, Hotel Fenix, The Pink Shell Resort Hotel, The Millennium Hotel, and the Crown Plaza Hotel.
• Management Group Experience - Pure Management Group, Western Entertainment River City Management, Beale Street Blues Company, CMB Holding Group, and Beyond Hospitality Business Group

View Preston Rideout's Expert Witness Profile.

David Rutecki's career spans 39 years of Restaurant and Hospitality related experience. Working in more than 20 restaurants and involved in the opening of more than a dozen, he has worked every position possible within this industry. Mr. Rutecki currently owns and operates Mountain Deli in Hendersonville, garnering the 2016, 2017 & 2018 Blue Ridge Growth Award. He is a Member of the North Carolina and National Restaurant Associations. Mr. Rutecki has been invloved in the following selected restaurants:

• Fancy’s Food and Wine, Gourmet Shop, Coral Gables, South Miami & Grove Isle, Fl.
• Susie’s Bagels, Breakfast Restaurant, South Miami, Fl.
• Pizzaria Uno, Full Service Restaurant, Miami, Fl.
• Baystreet, Full Service Seafood Restaurant, Miami, Fl.
• Rusty Pelican, Upscale Seafood, Key Biscayne, Miami, Fl.
• Rudolph's BBQ, Upscale BBQ, Miami, Fl.
• Signature Gardens, Upscale Catering Hall, Miami, Fl.
• Chart House, Upscale Seafood, Coconut grove, Fl.
• Cafe Tu Tu Tango, Coconut Grove, Fl.
• Gatsby’s, Upscale Billiards and Cigar Bar, Boca Raton, Fl.
• Prezzo, Casual Italian, Boca Raton, Fl.
• Maxwell’s Chophouse, Upscale Steakhouse, Boca Raton, Fl.
• Mountain Deli, Delicatessen, Downtown Hendersonville, NC
• Tabica Grill, Upscale American, Jupiter, Fl.
• Jonathon's Landing Marina Club, Upscale Boating Club, Jupiter, Fl
• Jetty's, Upscale Seafood, Jupiter, Fl.
• Austin Grill, Casual, Washington, DC.

Litigation Support - David Rutecki offers expert witness and litigation support for restaurant related issues in the United States. His services are available to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defendant. Areas of Expertise:

• Restaurant and Kitchen Design, Menu Development
• Food Safety and Sanitation
• Bar Operations & Liquor Liability... Dram Shop
• Safety & Security - Slips, Trips and Falls
• Daily Operations & Management, Employee & Staffing Issues
• Retail Operations
• Staff & Mgmt Training Programs & Handbooks
• Business Plan Development